RICK @ the RACES (Easter 2014 Road Trip)
18 April Albany-Saratoga Speedway , Malta, NY
19 April Grandview Speedway, Bechtelsville, PA
20 April Bridgeport Speedway, NJ
Over the years, the Easter Holidays have traditionally been a busy racing weekend for me, and after the long winter I’ve just endured, I was looking forward to heading south this past weekend for some action. I made plans for a Tri-State tour with dirt tracks in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey on my hit list.
My trip started at midday on Good Friday ( 18 April) when I met up with my good friend Chanty Lesage and her son Ty at the Tim Hortons on Cornwall’s , Brookdale Avenue. Chanty’s boyfriend happens to be my buddy Rob Yetman, the top Pro Stocks driver from Castleton, near Albany NY . We were all going to be staying at Rob’s place, so decided to travel down together in our separate cars , Chanty and Ty, in her Toyota and me in my HHR.
After crossing the border in Cornwall, we were soon in Plattsburgh NY and heading down Interstate 87. Our destination was the Albany-Saratoga Speedway at Malta, where Rob would be racing. We all arrived at the track around 4-30 pm and in good time for some socializing in the pits before the racing started.
As well as the Pro Stocks, the program consisted of Sportsman and the headlining Modifieds. Whilst in the pits, I chatted with many of my friends, which included, Johnny Scarborough who wanted a new ‘Rick at the Races’ sticker for his new # 61 Sportsman car.
I also spoke with Mike Perrotte , 
Modified driver # 35 and former Airborne Speedway manager as well as Matt Delerenzo , the new Fonda Speedway promoter and Modified driver # 3D
Once the racing got underway I stationed myself on the middle to take some pics.
It turned out to be a great night of racing with Rob winning the Pro Stock Feature, and a close finish in the Modified race, where Marc Johnson, (a new face for me) beat Brett Hearn by half a car length.
Once the racing was over we headed for the Yetman household and my bed for the night.
Around 8-30 am in the morning , I bid my farewells and took off solo, for the next stage of my tour and the Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania.
After a slow and relaxing drive down through New York State I was in Pottstown, PA by mid afternoon. It didn’t take me long to search out a cheap hotel, and was soon booked into the local Hotel 6.
The track is located in the small village of Bechtelsville, but Pottstown, which is about 20 minutes away , is the nearest place of any size. The last time, and only other time, that I’ve visited Grandview was about ten years ago when I was there for the SUPER DIRT SERIES. These days, it’s a NASCAR sanctioned dirt track, which was a ‘first’ for me. (All the NASCAR events I’ve attended in the past have been at paved tracks).
As well as the Big Block Modifieds, Sportsman and Late Models were on the bill.
Even though I was a long way from my regular stomping ground, there were still a few drivers I was familiar with, and had seen in action on tracks nearer to home and at SUPER DIRT WEEK. Frank Cozze, Jeff Strunk and Doug Manmiller to name a few.
It was the latter of this trio, Doug Manmiller who took the checkers, and for the second night running I saw a new face (for me) in Victory Lane.
The Sportsman Feature was won by Jared Umbenhauer
while Chuck Schutz took the Late Model race,
As mentioned before, it had been a long time since my last visit to Grandview and I’d forgotten how good the place was !
The racing was over before 10-30 and it wasn’t long before I was back in my room at the Hotel 6 downloading pics.
I had a nice lay in on Sunday morning, as part three of my Tri State tour was only about an hour away. Getting an Easter Sunday race is an added bonus for me these days , because unlike Europe, race action on this very religious day is a rare thing in North America.
Lucky for me, The Doug Hoffman Memorial ’60 over’ and R.O.C series race at the Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey got cancelled a few weeks back due to the bad weather, and was rescheduled for Easter Sunday.
I had a good breakfast in the Friendlys restaurant in Pottstown before making my way via Philadelphia to the Commodore Barry Bridge where I crossed into New Jersey.
I arrived at the track really early ( 1-30 pm) but I wasn’t the first one there !
Already the parking lot was starting to fill up, so I took advantage of the warmth and sunshine to take a snooze in the back 
of the HHR.
After my nap, I went for a wander around the pits to check out who was there.
The pits were quite full, but I guess this special day put off a few of the big names that I would have normally expected to see.
Even so there was still a quality field, which included , arguably the two hottest properties in Modified racing at this moment in time, Matt Sheppard and Stewart Friesen. Matt was driving the same # 357 Norm Hansel car that earned him Victory in the R.O.C opening round at the Five Mile Point Speedway a week earlier, where as Stewart was in his regular # 1WGC ride ( Westmoreland Golf Club Sponsored car) .
The track management worked hard to make this Easter Sunday event that honored the late great Doug Hoffman, a family occasion with flowers laid on for the ladies, and an Easter Egg drop by a helicopter for the kids.
Once again I was in for a great night of racing, with another ‘newby’ in Victory Lane. Front row starter Ryan Watt # 14 stayed at the front of the pack and built up a commanding lead as the race went for about 40 laps without a caution. The car that everyone was watching was that of Stewart Friesen ,who had drawn number twelve on the grid. He was gradually reeling in Watt , and was right on his back bumper when two late cautions occurred. The ‘Delaware’ type restart didn’t help the challenging Friesen, and Watt was able to hold on and grab the checkers.
I didn’t stay around for the Sportsman Feature, as I’d got a long trek home.
I felt so pleased with myself, by not getting lost in ‘Philly’ this time ( I messed up big time last year !) and was sitting in the McDonalds at White Haven on the Pocono section of the PA Turnpike by 10-45 pm. After a quick cup of tea and an edit of my Victory Lane pics for Face Book, I was back on the road.
By midnight I was on the I 81 at Scranton PA and at around 12-30 am I was ready for some sleep. The bed had been made up in the back of the HHR, so decided to ‘crash out’ for a few hours at the Flying J Truck Stop at Milford PA . Once rested , I hit the road again, and after some breakfast at the Maple View Truck Stop at Mexico NY , I was heading for the border.
Once back in Canada , my first priority was a stop at ‘Timmies’ at Mallorytown, before arriving home in Cornwall mid morning.